


beyond the words

by galiastaro



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, ben solo plays a death knight bc duh, nerds, not very proud of this but I needed to get it out of my docs, they all play world of warcraft, they also all roleplay, yikes I'm sorry for this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 03:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galiastaro/pseuds/galiastaro
Summary: Rey's been sucked into the roleplaying community of World of Warcraft, and she's pretty good at it.One night, while leading a kingdom roleplay, The First Order of the Ebon Knights decide to join.This is a chronicle of the ensuing chaos.





	beyond the words

**Author's Note:**

> There's a guide to the jargon used when referring to the game and roleplaying in it in the end notes.
> 
> This is just the brainchild of a sleep-deprived, video-game-playing writer. If it sucks, please don't be rude. If it's great and you want to let me know, leave a comment. It hasn't been thoroughly checked for any errors, so if there are any, please let me know and I'll happily clarify or rectify.

She's setting up a kingdom roleplay when Finn whispers her.

The text is innocent looking, with its soft pink-purple glow, and she reads it and snorts. 

[Finnegan Storm] whispers: that guild wants in

[Kira Proudmoore] whispers: am i supposed to know what ur talking bout

[Finnegan Storm] whispers: first order of the ebon knights

[Finnegan Storm] whispers: theyve been spamming trade chat in stormwind for like weeks now for recruits theyre a new military rp guild

Rey scoffs, typing a new message to her friend.

[Kira Proudmoore] whispers: yeah whatev send them an invite you've got assist

Three new characters join the raid group in quick succession after that. Brendolh, Phasma, and Kyloren. Rey stops herself from snorting again at their names; Poe’s already staring at her funny from across the room with his nose stuck in his book. 

Some level forty-two is spamming the raid’s chat with a demand for a summon to Gilneas, and Rey types back, using raid warning so everyone has to read it.

[Kira Proudmoore]: [/RW] SPAM FOR SUMMONS AND GET KICKED, YOU’LL GET A SUMMON EVENTUALLY

“Everything okay, Rey?”

She looks up from her laptop and nods at her stepbrother. “Yeah. Yeah, totally. Just some morons online, they want--”

“I'll stop you there,” Poe interrupts, waving his hands. “I know nothing and care nothing about War of Worldcraft--”

“It's actually World of Warcraft--”

“Case in point. Just don't-- don't overreact to people you don't even know,” Poe says, standing and patting her shoulder. “I'm heading to bed. Don't stay up ‘til four again, like last time.”

“That-- it was an awesome roleplay group, I couldn't just quit!” Rey sputters as she watches Poe go into his bedroom. The apartment is quiet now without his contemplative hums and constant page turning, so Rey hits F1 and her mute key simultaneously, and the WoW scores fill the silent air, wafting out from her laptop’s speakers.

She gets a Ventrilo request from Finn and accepts it, turning down the volume so she can use her laptop’s mic and not hook up her headset. 

“Rey, we just hit forty people,” he says, typing away on his end.

“‘Kay,” she says. “Hey, add Korie to this? We can get her ‘lock to set up a summoning portal on the bridge outside of the cathedral.”

“Sure thing, sunshine.”

“Hey, Korie,” Rey greets when she sees that she's been added to the voice chat.

“Back at you, Rey,” Korie responds. “I assume you want me to make a summoning spot?”

“You're our only warlock, so that'd be really appreciated,” Rey says sweetly. “Finn and I are already out here to help bring it up.”

“I'm on my way,” Korie says. Soon enough, Korr Sella, Korie’s max level warlock meets Finn and Rey-- or Finn’s warrior Finnegan and Rey’s mage Kira-- and they successfully bring up the portal.

[Kira Proudmoore]: [/RW] PRESS 1 FOR SUMMONS; DO NOT SPAM

After ten minutes, the entire raid party of forty people has been summoned and now sits in the cathedral of Gilneas City. Rey and Finn-- Kira and Finnegan run up to the altar in the front of the cathedral, where some idiotic low levels are trying to be funny. They go sit in the pews, as is traditional and respectful to the raid leader and raid assistant leader(s), and Rey gets things started. 

She hits her macro for the rules, and they blaze down through raid warning. They're the basic setup: no godmodding, rolling for combat (higher roll wins the round of emotes), no trolling, and, most importantly, no public ERP.

Rey groans inwardly at the jokesters who protest that last rule, but she shuts them down quickly. No one wants to see any of the [Steamy Romance Novel]s actually happen in front of them.

Next, she hits her macro listing the roles. The markers come up, designating where people are to stand for specific roles. The purple diamond to her right designates those who will try for the roles of the monarchs. The yellow star to her left marks those who wish to be on the royal council. The blue square is the guards of the royal family and of the village, the silver moon representing the average citizens, and the red ‘x’ marks the spot of where those who would be rebels against the crown go. 

Everyone moves quickly. It's pretty even, she notes, the distribution of players amongst the groups.

She has those who want to be king whisper her a sample paragraph about how they'd rule. She does this to test grammar and skill at improvising, and the six paragraphs that she get are varying in those qualities. She rules out three on grammar, another one on how he’d he tyrannical, and she narrows it down to the final one by picking the one that sounds most selfless and noble. She announces the winner (with the character name of Pomeron Dö), marks him with the golden star to designate his role, and asks for those who want to be queen to whisper Finn. 

Normally, she wouldn't care about being royalty, but she wants to have an important role today. She already knows Finn will give it to her, seeing as her only competition is a level twenty four with no TRP3 profile, no transmog set, and no grammar. (All of the female players always want to be the princess, not the queen.)

Rey marks herself with the purple diamond that designates the queen after the other girl trying for queen rage-quits the roleplay. She then picks the prince and princess in the same manner.

She moves to the council, then. There's only three there, so she leaves them to be a triumvirate rather than select a council chairman. She selects a guard captain (the Phasma from that weird death knight guild Finn whispered her about), an innkeeper, and, finally, looks to the rebels.

[Kira Proudmoore]: [/RW] REBEL LEADER, WHISPER ME WHY YOU WOULD SEE THE MONARCHY BURN AND HOW YOU WOULD CAUSE ITS DOWNFALL.

There's no responses until a minute later.

It's from Brendolh, but she waits for his profile to load so the message shows his character name.

[Brendol Huxx] whispers: Gilneas has always been corrupt and unfair to those it should be most loyal to. With my leadership, the monarchy would be subtly taken down by spies and saboteurs, the best way to infiltrate and destroy a corrupt system. I will show no mercy to the pompous brats that call themselves the rulers of Gilneas.

It's so serious that Rey starts giggling to herself. Sure, she expects a level of dignity from those she gives roles to, but this is a-whole-nother level.

[Kylo Ren] whispers: Hey. This is weird, but that Hux dude is my archrival in all of my classes right now. It'd mean a lot if you'd give me this just to piss him off. He's already scared off anyone else who'd try for the role. If you want verification that I'm not a troll, my TRP3 has everything you're probably looking for. I'm good at grammar, dedicated, and not a troll. Thanks.

Rey stares at the message for a minute. She clicks through his profile, and sure enough, it's accurately lore-based, impressive, and extremely thorough.

She decides on the guy named Kylo Ren, and she tells him so.

[Kira Proudmoore]: [/RW] REBEL LEADER HAS BEEN CHOSEN AND WILL BE KEPT SECRET UNTIL LEADER REVEALS THEMSELF

She types in her last few messages, telling everyone where to go for their assigned roles, and announces Finn as their timekeeper and weatherperson. He’ll announce when it's day, when it's night, and what the weather is like at that point in time. 

Rey gives everyone the signal to get to their spots, and everyone scatters. Finn gives them their starting time and weather, and Rey begins the countdown. She starts at ten over raid warning, and when she reaches one, everyone snaps into character, and Rey is queen presiding over her court at Greymane Manor. 

\---

Queen Kira Proudmoore stands next to her husband, King Pomeron Dö, as they inspect the royal guards. Their children, Crown Princess Jessika and Prince Biggs, stand behind them, observing the tradition of Gilnean monarchs. 

The new captain of the guard, Gwendolyn Phasma, proudly shows her regiments as they line up within the manor. 

“You've this under control, right, darling?” Kira asks her husband, gently patting his arm. “I'd like to go horseback riding today.”

Pomeron nods. “Of course. Captain, who are your best men? I'd like for them to accompany their queen on a ride this afternoon.”

Kira tunes out the conversation, instead focusing on the menacing looking knight to her right. He's not dressed in the usual armor of Gilneans, nor does he wear the correct tabard. 

“Lieutenant Ren would best suit your needs, Your Majesty,” Phasma says, motioning to the very man that Kira was inspecting. “He will fulfill his duty without hesitation.”

(Rey notes that she says nothing of protecting the queen, just fulfilling his own wants. She knows that it's some kidnapping plot, but she can't just meta-game and give her character outside knowledge that she wouldn't have in-game.)

Kira nods. “He’ll do nicely. Come along, then, Lieutenant. I'd like to get a ride in before the rain starts again.” She presses a kiss to Pomeron’s cheek, bidding him farewell, before she heads towards the stables in front of the manor.

She mounts her palamino, and the lieutenant mounts a horse of all black. They start off towards the bridge slowly, the cliffs to their right ever dangerous, with silence.

“Lieutenant,” Kira says, breaking the silence, “how long have you been serving Gilneas?”

He huffs. “Not long enough to find armor that fits. I'm sure you noticed the state of my attire; the captain’s had to commission armor in my size.”

She isn't certain on how to respond, so they continue along in silence. They pass the bridge, continue towards the small village next to the mires, before Ren speaks again.

“Pardon me, for my bluntness, Your Majesty,” he rumbles. “I'm not used to serving such lovely women.”

(Oh, Rey thinks, that's his angle.)

“It's quite alright,” the young queen responds. “I appreciate when people don't act as if they can't speak in front of me. Just because I married the king doesn't mean I don't remember what it was like to be a normal citizen.”

“Oh?” Kylo prompts. “I've heard rumors of how you came to marry the king, but I can't imagine them to be true.”

“It's a strange story,” Kira admits. “He came into the city for a meeting with the governor, and he saw me selling spare parts and freshly baked bread on a street corner. He was a prince then, but he fell in love with me in an instant. So much so, actually, that he whisked me out of the city and into a fishing village closer to the manor. He courted me briefly before he proposed after his father’s death. Unrest was rising, and he thought if he could quell both the people’s discontent and his heart’s longing by marrying a commoner, then it'd be worth a chance.

“I couldn't say no. He sees me as some kind of angel. I married him, bore him two heirs, and now, I'm back to being that girl on a street corner: invisible, even to him,” she murmurs, sighing.

She feels a heavy hand on her shoulder, and she looks to see Ren’s hand covering the purple velvet of her robes “Not to me.”

Kira stares into his eyes for a moment-- they're dark, twinkling with a hint of mischief-- before she stops her horse. "I think I'd like to have a picnic over there. You can manage that, can't you, Lieutenant?"

"Absolutely, Your Majesty. After you," he says, motioning for her to lead the way.

Thus began a dangerous game.

Kira used her influence to make Ren her personal guard, and they spent their time together passionately, knowing that if anyone caught them, they'd be in deep trouble.

Kira would be removed from power, disowned by her family, and banished or executed. 

Kylo would be executed within the day.

So, they saw each other in secret, stole moments in hidden alcoves of the manor.

"Pomeron, darling," Kira greets one afternoon, having just returned from her daily ride. Kylo is at her side, and she waves absently to dismiss him. "How would you feel about allowing me a holiday? Visiting the villages and helping has taxed my spirit, and I can't serve our people if I'm not at my best. Would it be okay if I visited the country estate for a few days?" She holds her husband's arm, praying to any higher existence that he does not care and allows it.

She sees Ren skulking in an alcove nearby, eavesdropping. It doesn't look suspicious, him being her personal guard and all, but it sets Kira on edge. If her husband suspects anything, she couldn't be able to live with herself, knowing that she led her to lover's end.

"Of course, my love. Don't strain yourself," Pomeron responds, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. "Do you require any additional guardsmen? Perhaps you'd like Jessika to accompany you?"

Kira shakes her head. "I must clear my head, so I'll just take Lieutenant Ren. He's done extremely well protecting me on his own."

Pomeron nods and summons Kylo forward. "Thank you, Lieutenant, for taking such good care of my beautiful wife. I don't know where I'd be without her."

Kylo bows before him. "It is an honor to serve you and your family, Your Majesty."

Kira mentally releases a held breath; everything has gone according to plan.

They depart hours later, only a single trunk of Kira's gowns and robes and such having been packed, towards the middle of the country, where few live and fewer visit. 

Kira grins over at Kylo, but she's met only with an expression of indifference. 

"What's wrong?"

Kylo scoffs. "You told me that he treated you as if you were invisible. He practically worships you, Kira, and yet you seek another lover?"

"He does treat me as if I'm invisible. Only when the situation will benefit him does he treat me like an equal. You don't see what goes on behind closed doors, Lieutenant," Kira snaps, setting her eyes on the road in front of them.

"Kira," Kylo says softly. "Look at me."

She does not, instead staring at the house growing nearer by the moment. She refuses to look back towards Kylo, and she feels a tear begin to run down her cheek.

"Kira," Kylo repeats, his voice lower this time. "Get to the house."

"What?" Kira snaps, crossing her arms. "I'm done playing games with you, Kylo. Stop--"

"Shut up-- go, now!" Kylo yells. It startles her horse, and it rears up, knocking Kira from the saddle. Kylo curses from behind her, seeing that she's fallen unconscious from hitting the ground. 

He's aware of the yelling that surrounds him, the rebels come to kidnap her, for it was his plot. He hadn't meant to fall in love with her along the way. 

"Took you long enough, Ren," Brendol Huxx, his second in command, barks from his own horse. 

"She shouldn't be caught up in this," Ren responds, dismounting his horse to pick up the fallen queen. "She loathes her husband, has no loyalty to him. She loves me now." He's stretching the truth a bit, but he'll be damned if anyone lays a hand on her.

Huxx waves his hand dismissively. "Fine, then. Bring her along. Convert her to our cause, and she'll live. Mitaka! Carry word to Greymane Manor that their queen has been taken hostage and that we are willing to negotiate for her freedom-- or life."

Mitaka nods and races off in the direction of the manor as Kylo settles Kira in his lap and directs the party of rebels towards the abandoned mining village in the North, their base of operations. 

When they arrive, Kira still hasn't woken, and Kylo takes her to his house, the only one offset from the town and spacious enough for multiple people. He lays her down in the bed upstairs stand sets to work fixing tea for her once she wakes.

Kira stirs softly, groaning. Her head is pounding, and Kylo comes back upstairs to find her attempting to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kylo chuckles, pushing her gently back down into the mattress and pulling the blankets over her. A chill has come over the marshes, and she seems to be cold from it.

"This isn't the estate," Kira says, looking at him wearily. "Where are we? Why were you telling me to go?"

"The rebels found us."

"And they didn't kill us?" She sounds skeptical.

"They wanted to kill you. I didn't let them."

"Why would they listen to you?"

"Because I'm their leader."

Kira stares up at him. She looks confused, shocked, betrayed-- and Kylo's heart aches.

"You-- you're lying. Why would you-- you should've just killed me," she stutters, withdrawing from him. She presses herself against the headboard, creating space between them.

"I won't let anyone hurt you. You told me yourself that the king doesn't treat you as his equal; here, anywhere, I'll always treat you as mine. You don't need to align yourself with my cause, but I need you to renounce your loyalty to your husband. That's the only way that I can fully protect you," Kylo explains, reaching a hand towards her. "Please, Kira. I never expected to fall for you. That was never part of the plan."

She glares at him, angry, before she pushes his hand away. "I can't do what you ask of me. I took a vow--"

"A vow you broke by being my lover, Kira! Why can't you admit it to yourself, that you love me and not him?"

Kira glares at Kylo and shakes her head. "It's not that easy, you don't get to kidnap me and then force me into loving you!" She sighs. "I loved Lieutenant Kylo Ren, not rebel leader Kylo Ren. You are clearly not the same man that I thought you were."

"Kira--" Kylo tries, trying to mend what he's broken.

"It's 'Your Majesty,'" she snaps. "You may want me to renounce my husband, but I will not. I will not live as a traitor to Gilneas."

"Then you will die as a martyr for the monarchy!" Kylo hisses, storming from the room.

Kira flinches as he slams the door, and she leans back against the headboard of the bed with a heavy sigh. Her head's throbbing has come to a dull ache, and she moves to the edge of the bed, sitting up. 

She hears what she assumes is the front door slam open and shut in quick succession, and Kira stands.

It's a two story farmhouse, she notes, descending the stairs quickly. She glances out the windows next to the front door-- and there are two men on either side of the door, more milling about in the village. She can't tell where she is exactly, but she knows that the river that splits Gilneas is near; she can hear the waterfall.

There's a kitchen, but there's no back door. Luckily, though, there is a large enough window to crawl through. She slides the pane upward, quickly sliding through the open space to land on the grassy riverbank. She strides across it towards the grassy plains next to the village, hopefully where she can get help from a farmer or traveler.

Her plans are thwarted when strong arms wrap around her waist. "And where do you think you're going, Your Majesty?" a masculine voice sneers. He pulls her back, more like dragging her, into the village. He slaps her, then, throwing her down into the muddy town center. The people milling about freeze to watch the scene before them unfold.

"See the filth that claims to lead Gilneas! She's honorless, a coward-- just like her husband." The man is a redhead, tall, human, but Kira can see the ferocity hiding behind his eyes-- he's been turned.

She needs to escape, now.

"Brendol! What is the meaning of this?" Kylo roars, storming into the marketplace. Everyone has gone silent, either staring at Kylo, Brendol, or at Kira as she struggles to stand from the mud pit she was forced into.

"I caught the rat trying to escape into the meadows! I told you, she--"

Kylo pushes him back forcefully. "And I told you! No one touches her!"

Their argument is interrupted by the sound of many horses, the clamorous sound of men. The king has come for the queen.

"Kira!" Pomeron shouts. He draws his sword, giving the silent order for the army behind him to follow suit. "Let her go, and you may live to see another day."

Kylo smolders with anger, glaring at Huxx, then at the king. "This is a misunderstanding, Your Majesty."

"You were supposed to protect her," Pomeron states. "Look at what you've done. Turning her over to the rebels? This is an act of high treason."

"I've done nothing! It was all Brendol Huxx, Your Majesty," Kylo argues. "No one here has harmed you, have they? I've protected you," he says to Kira, still kneeling in the mud. 

"That's a lie," Kira spits. "He's laid a hand on me."

Kylo seethes, turning again to Huxx. "I told you not to touch her!" He draws his sword, leveling it at Huxx's throat. "You'll pay for this."

\---

People are leaving. Like, everyone. The king quits, the prince and princess quit a long time ago, and most of the guards and rebels follow suit. The roleplay falls apart after Kylo's initial confrontation with Huxx, so everyone leaves. 

All that's left is the strange trio of Brendolh, Kyloren, and Kirarey.

\---

[Kylo Ren]: that was a good rp considering it was public

[Brendol Huxx]: Yes, I agree. Job well done, Kirarey. I'll keep an eye out for any future events hosted by you. Good night.

[Brendolh] has left the raid group.

[Kira Proudmoore]: well it was nice talking to you

[Kylo Ren]: you logging off?

[Kira Proudmoore]: yeah it's 3 am here so

[Kira Proudmoore]: my brothers gonna kill me if I sleep in past ten

[Kylo Ren]: mind if I add you as a friend? I think our characters would get along well in casual rp

[Kira Proudmoore]: go ahead, I'll add you too

[Kylo Ren]: okay well night

[Kira Proudmoore]: night

[Kira Proudmoore] has left the raid group.

**Author's Note:**

> WoW: World of Warcraft, a massive multiplayer online game  
> [character name] whispers: a whisper is a private message from one character to another; no one else can see it  
> guild: a group (usually of friends) who do things together in game; roleplaying guilds are common on roleplaying servers and have themes (military, adventurers, organizations, etc.) that are carried out  
> RP: abbreviated version of roleplay  
> raid group: a large group of players (up to 40)  
> assist: (as in “you've got assist”) the assistant raid leader, can be multiple of these; they can invite people, make announcements over raid warning and often help lead structured roleplays  
> raid warning: [/rw]; a form of communication to the raid group that shows up in the middle of everyone's screen, meaning that everyone sees it and that the message has importance  
> levels: the maximum level in World of Warcraft currently is 110; lower levels tend to be taken less seriously in roleplays due to not having nice looking armor/transmog sets and bad MRP/TRP3 profiles  
> transmog set: short for transmogrification set; an ability where you can change what a piece of armor looks like in order to make your character’s armor look more aesthetically pleasing or convey a character  
> MRP/TRP3: WoW addons for roleplayers; used to create profiles for characters  
> Gilneas: a zone used for kingdom roleplays because it is empty of NPCs and has a “castle” (mansion), villages, large city, and more  
> NPC: a non player character; not a real person  
> summon(s): a way of bringing a character to a certain place to save them the time it would take to fly there; Gilneas has no flight points and is difficult to get to, so a lot of people whine for summoning; only a warlock can make a summoning portal and it requires two additional people to summon the portal, and then to subsequently summon other players  
> macro: a shortcut to doing something in game; for example, Rey has a long list of rules and structure for roleplays (as most do) and does not like typing it out each time she hosts a roleplay, so she puts it in a macro. so whenever she presses the hypothetical m key, it automatically copies and pastes the stuff into the raid chat  
> IC: in character  
> OOC: out of character  
> [Steamy Romance Novel]s: objects in game that pretty much mock smutty stories, they're hilarious  
> ERP: erotic roleplay; yikes  
> godmodding: making your character unstoppable or unkillable; it's really annoying  
> rolling for combat: you don't actually attack each other when RPing, so instead you do [/roll] and it produces a number between one and one hundred; one person types an emote ([Kira Proudmoore]: raises her staff and summons an arcane bolt, launching it at Kylo Ren’s head.) and the person being attacked (Kylo Ren) will [/roll] to see if the attack hit him after the person who is attacking rolls. if the attacker has the higher number, the attack succeeds; if the attacked has the higher number, they avoid it and emote in response ([Kylo Ren]: sidesteps Kira’s attack and launches a fireball towards her.) and so it continues until someone either stops it, runs out of health points, or someone quits  
> meta-game: giving your character outside information; like Kira knowing that Kylo is the rebel leader


End file.
